Analysis: DJ Mbenga

Dj Mbenga posts up

DJ Mbenga is starting on his second season with the Lakers.  He recently signed a 2 year contract with the Lakers with the first year at $880,000 and the second year somewhere around $1 million.  The first year is fully guaranteed while the second year may be only partially guaranteed. This puts him slightly over the league minimum.

• Didier Ilunga-Mbenga
• Born: Dec 30, 1980
• Height: 7-0 / 2,13
• Wingspan: 7-6
• Weight: 255 lbs. / 115,7 kg.
• From: Congo
• Years Pro: 4

Strengths:

Mbenga’s main strength lies in his physical stature…he’s a truly chiseled physical specimen.  At first glance, you can see he’s a hefty 7 footer with an excellent wingspan for his size.  When you look a little closer, you’ll notice his hands are also proportionate to his body.  He is light for his size weighing in at 255 but he has good power and explosiveness.  DJ uses his slight build to get up and down the court rather quickly and you’ll often see him ahead of the man he’s covering. His main defensive weapon is the shot block, he’s actually pretty good at blocking shots so opposing players have to watch for him if they drive the lane.

Last year on the Lakers, Mbenga had some good stretches where he showed off his physical abilities by rebounding and fast breaking.  In addition, he was a crowd favorite with his myriad of ugly shots.  He’s not a graceful shooter but for some reason, the ball goes in.  He’s a deceptively adequate shooter and if he can practice some more on his mechanics, he can probably be a good midrange shooter.   For a big man, he has a soft touch.  Unlike alot players like him, he actually has some offense and can give you quality backup minutes.

Weaknesses:

The biggest knock on DJ has to be his lack of basketball knowledge.  Indeed, sometimes he looks totally lost out there on the court.  This probably has to do with the fact that DJ didn’t start playing basketball until his late teens/early 20’s.  He’s a good defender but he still misses defensive assignments.  On pick and roll situations, he often fails to read the play and shows too much letting his man back door him.  In addition, his shooting touch is very un-refined, you can tell that he’s still learning shooting mechanics.

The Verdict

At 28 years old, you can’t expect him to improve a whole lot but he definitely showed some improvement throughout last season.  He does work hard and tries to help his team which is a very good quality to have.  He has the potential to be an above average defender if he learns to watch the flow of the game more.  He’s a smart guy, he should be able to pick this up with some more playing time.

For $1 million a year, the Lakers probably won’t be able to find any other player as good as DJ.  He’s cheap and an adequate 3rd/4th big man, I like it.  He won’t get alot of PT this year but when he does come in, I fully expect that he’ll do the Lakers proud most of the time.

Here are some Youtube videos of DJ for your enjoyment:

DJ Lakers Remix

DJ Interview (he’s got a black belt in Judo)

Benga on Fiyahhh!